Printing machine



Aug. 4, 1931. F w 1,817,812

\ PRINTING MACHINE I Filed Nov 19, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Aug.'4; 1931.

F. E. FOWLER rmu'rme MACHINE s sheets-sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1950ATTORNEY Aug. 4, 1931. F. E. FOWLER PRINTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 19, 19303 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY I E Q 52 Patented Aug. 4, 1931 rnin'irns MACINE This invention relates to a machine for stenciling or "printingcrates, boxes; bottle cases and the like,- the general object of-theinvention being to provide a'rol-len'having 5' thereon theprinting typewith mea'nsffor rotating the roller asitis moved bodily" alonga'supp'ort and means for applying paint, ink, 'orthe like to the type asthe roller is'moved along apart of the device'after whic'hthe ic rollermoves-over the crate to printthe'sanie.

Another object of the invention is to p'r o- 'vide means whereby theproper ainount of paint or the like is placedon the type; v

Thisinventionalso consists in certain other -15 features ofconstruction-and in the combination and arrangement ofthe several parts,to 1 be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings and specifically pointed out in the append-ed claims.

20 1 In describing the invent-ion in detail, reference will be had tothe accompanying drawings whereinlike characters denote like orcorresponding parts throughoutthe several views, and in-which Figure 1is an elevation of the invention. Figure 2 is a view of-one endthereof."

' Figure 3' is a View of'the other end.

Figure at is a top plan View. 1 Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View".lifso showing the brush supporting means; the

tank and the dipper. r

Figure 6 is a section onthe line 66: of Figure 1. t

In these views the numeral 1 indicatesthe 1 baseand the numeral 2indicates'an upright fastened at its lower end to each end of the base.The uprights are connected together intermediate their'ends bya'meinber' 3. A crosspiece 4C is connected to the upperend of eachupright and the pair-of guide bars 5 are each rotatably connected at oneend to one of the erosspieces as shown at6. The other end of each" guidebar passes through aU-bolt 7 passing through the'other crosspiece andhaving springs 8 on the limbs'belowthe crosspieceto yieldingly hold theuide bars against the crosspiece. f

Aitubular member 9 is slidably arranged on each guide barand acrosspieCevlO connects the two tubular members together. A

Applioatibn 'filed -Ndvember 19,1930. seria'ino. 496,759.

hollow shaft 11' is "rotatably arranged on the crosspiece and carries aprinting roller 12 and a drum 13.. 'Thetypeis formed onja 'member 14 0fresilient inaterial which encircles the printingroller and the jircularpad 15 is placed between the roller and the member' 14. T he memberlthasits endsdet-aehably connected together so that it can be readily removedand another member substituted therefor whenever necessary or desirable.

T hedrum 13 "is formed with a sr'iiral groove. in 7 its circumferencewhich is engaged by "a cable 17 one end ofwhic'h is adj ustablyconnected'with the crossp'ie'ce-d as {shown at 18 and the oth'er 'end ofwhich 'is-adjustablyron- FRANK E. FOWLER; on irrrinns, GEORGIAnected-withth'e bentextended end 19 ofone A brush supportingbrack'et 20is clamped .toa cr0sspiece'21 which has its ends connected with thetubular membersQQWhich-are also-slidablyarranged onthe bars '5. Thebrush '23 is fastened to the bracket by a bolt 24which passes throughthe handle of the brush-"and through a slot 25in the top parto'f thebracket.

'Anelongated pan 26 is suitably supported intheframe adjacent oneendthereof and one end of the pan extends slightly into a tank 27 whichcontains the 'in k paint, or the like with which the crateor case is tobe printed.

A dipper 28 formed of a-per'forated plate of slightly curved'construotion is placed in thetankan'd its handle 29 is-connected to oneedgeof the dipper, said handle being pivotally connected with thetank asshown at30 and-a spring 31 conneets the upper end of'the handlewiththe'p'rojection 32'of the frame so that the dipper is held with itscentral part substantially at'the liquid level'of the tank. A ehain 33con-nects the'upperend of the hand le with-the bracketQO and when thebracket has been moved a' certain distance away from the tank the chainwillbe tightened so that the =11 and lle isitilted and thus the dipperwill enter the liquid in the tank. As the chain-is V slackenedthe spring81 will'return the'dipiper to its normal position/and surplus liquidwill flow from the dipper through the perforations backiinto the tank.Thus, only a small amount of the liquid will adhere to. the

bristles of the brush as said bristles move over the perforated plate ofthe dipper. As the brush leaves the dipper it will come in contact withthe projecting edge of the pan which acts to scrape off some of theliquid from the front edge of the brush before the brush moves over thebottom of the pan, but on the return movement of the brush the rearportion of the bristles thereof will engage the bottom of the pan toplace more of the liquid on said bottom.

Levers 34 and 35 have their lower ends pivotally connected with the baseand the upper end of the lever 34 is connected with one of the tubularmembers 22 by a pin 35 engaging the slot 36 in the lever and the pin 37on one of the tubular members 9 engages a slot 38 in the upper end ofthe lever 35. The lower portions of the two levers are connectedtogether by a link 39 and the lever 35 is connected by link 40 with thecrank 41 carried by a shaft 42 journaled in part of the frame. WVormgearing 43 connect the shaft 42 with the shaft 44 which is drivenfrom amotor M or the like.

An upright 45 has its lower end fastened to the member 3 and angle arms46 are connected with the top of the upright 45 so that the crate or boxA will be supported by placing it on these arms 46 as shown in Figure 1.The upright 45 and its arms will hold the crate in a position where oneside of the crate will be acted on by the printing roller.

The parts are so arranged that the lever 34 and the brush carrying partswill move much slower than will the lever 35 and the printing roller anddrum, and the parts are so timed in the movement that the brush lever 34only moves about half the distance of the lever 35, the latter levermoving practically the entire length of the machine. The brush onlymoves at about half the speed as that of the printing roller. As theparts move to the left in Figure 1, the brush passes over the pan andthen enters the dipper which has been raised by the spring 31. Duringthe forward and backward movement of the brush over the pan the brushwill apply a coating of the printing liquid to the bottom of the pan sothat as the printing roller passes over the pan the type will be coatedwith the liquid. As the parts move in an opposite direction or to theright in Figure 1, the printing roller will leave the pan and roll overthe upper side of the crate so as to print the same and the brush willmove over the pan to give the bottom of the pan another coating.

The cable 17 causes the drum, the hollow shaft 11 and the printingroller 12 to rotate as the lever 35 is oscillated and this positivemeans of rotating the printing roller will prevent blurring of thematter printed on the crate.

The printing roller moves beyond the end of the case or crate afterprinting so that the operator can remove the crate and turn the otherside up and replace it on the arms and while he is turning the crate orcase the parts will move rearwardly so that the printing roller willroll over the pan and again have the type thereon coated with theliquid. Then the parts move forward again to print the other side of thecase or crate. The back and forth movement of the parts is continuousand the speed at which the parts move can be regulated to suit theoperator. The printing stroke of the printing roller causes the typethereon to pass back over the same places on the bottom of the pan whichthey contacted on the rearward stroke so that some of the liquid on thetype is put back on the pan thus eliminating any possibility of the typeretaining too much liquid.

By placing a pad under the type member of the printing roller andproviding means whereby the guide bars 5 can move upward 1y at the frontends the device can be used to stencil cases which are warped as suchmeans will permit the type to contact the warped sides at all points andthus print the same.

The usual way of applying wording on the sides of cases at the bottlingplants is to use a stencil and stencil brush. This method is very slowand unless one is very careful the letters will not be formed clear anddistinct. To stencil the average case requires something over one minutetime. The printing machine is automatic in operation and any kind ofpaint, ink or. enamel can be used to print with. By using enamel paintfor printing, the letters stand out better and show a high gloss whichis very desirable on bottle cases that have been painted with a glosspaint. It is not possible to use enamel paint when the stencil and brushmethod is used. By using a gloss paint to paint case with and a glosspaint to print letters on sides of case, the case has the appearance ofbeing varnished and to get this same appearance with the stencil method,the case would have to be varnished which of course is additionalexpense and time. The uniform printing on every case, such as clear cutletters and uniform color of'letters is another important feature thatis very hard to get with stencil work. One man can do the Work ofseveral men with this machine, as the machine will print several casesper minute and he only has to put the cases on the machine and take itoff after same has been printed. This saving of time is very important,as well as saving in labor. By changing the rubber die on die drum, anykind of lettering can be printed on a case.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the. construction andin the combination and arrangement of the several parts provided thatsuch changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device of the class described comof its rearward movement andpassing from the tank over the pan to apply liquid to the bottom of thepan, a printing roller slidably snpported in the frame and moving overthe pan at the rear part of its backward movement and at the forwardpart of its forward movement, means for sliding the brush carryingmember and the printing roller, means for rotating the roller during itssliding movement, and means for supporting an object to be printed inthe frame where it will be contacted by the printing roller after thesame leaves the pan.

2. A device of the class described comprising a supporting frameincluding guiding means, a pair of members slidably arranged on theguiding means, a printing roller rotatably supported by one of saidmembers, a. brush supported by the other member, means for reciprocatingthe sliding members, a pan over whichthe brush is moved 7 during itssliding movement, a tanlr arranged at one end of the pan, a dipper 111the tank and engaged by the brush, means for nor mally holding thedipper above the liquid level in the tank, means for lowering theclipper by the brush carrying means after the brush leaves the pan, saidprinting roller engaging the pan during the part of its movement, meansfor supporting an object to be printed in the path of the printingroller and means for rotating the roller during its reciprocatorymovement.

A device of the class described compris Eng a supporting frame includingguiding means, a pair of members slidably arranged on the guiding means,a p 'inting roller rotatably supported by one of said members, a brushsupported by theother member, means for reciprocating the slidingmembers, a pan over which the brush is moved during its slidingmovement, 'a tank arranged one end of the pan, a dipper in the tank andened by the rush, means for normally holdin, the dipper above the liquidlevel in the tank, means for lowering the dipper by the brush carryingmeans after the brush leaves an, said printing roller engaging the panthe part or its movement, means for a, )1 mg an ob ect to be printed inthe path of the printing roller and means for rotating the roller duringits reciprocatory movement. such means comprising a drum connected withthe printing roller and having a. spiral groove in its ci 'cumferenceandthe cable having a part looped around the drum with its endsconnected to a part of the frame.

4. A device of the class described comprising frame including a pair ofhorizontally arranged bars, a pair of members slidably arranged on thebars, a brush carried by one member, a printing drum carried by theother member, a pan of channel shape supported in the frame withthebottom of which the brush and printing roller are adapted tocontact,a tank at the'rear end of the pan, a perforated dipper in the pan, meansfor normally holdingthe dipper above the liquid level of the tank, aflexible member connecting a part of the dipper with the brush carrierwhereby the dipper will be lowered when the brush carrier is moved overthe pan, a lever connected to each of the sliding members, eachconnection being a slotted one, a link connecting the levers together,power means connected with one lever and imparting an oscillatorymovement to the levers and a sliding m ovement to the brush and printingroller carrying means, said parts being arranged to cause the brush topass back and forth over the pan and the roller to move over the pan toposition beyond the pan, means for supporting a crate in the path of theroller and means for imparting the rotary movement to the roller as itis reciprocated. 5. A device of the class described comprising a frameincluding a pair of horizontally arranged bars, a pa1r of membersslldably arranged on the bars, a brush carried by one member, aprintingdrum carried by the other member, a pan of channel shape supported inthe frame with the bottom of whichthe brush and printing roller areadapted to contact, a tank at the rear end of the pan, a perforateddipper in the pan, means for normally holding the dipper above theliquid level of the tank, a flexible member connecting-a part ofthedipper with the brush carrier whereby thedipper will be lowered whenthe brush carrier is moved over the pan, a lever connected to each ofthe sliding members, each connection being a slotted one, a hnkconnectlng the levers togethenpower means connected with one lever andimparting an oscillatory movement to the levers and a sliding movementto the brush and printing roller carrying means, said partsbeingarranged to cause the brush to pass back and forth over the pan and theroller to move over the pan to position beyond the pan, means forsupporting a crate in the path of'the roller, means for imparting therotary movement to the roller as it is reciprocated, said roller havinga cushion under each type carried means and the guiding bars beingsupported for upward yielding movement.

In testlmony'whereof I affix my s1gnature.

FRANK E.- FOWVLER.

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